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Glossary · Places

Shoreline Amphitheatre

The outdoor concert venue for 22,500 people built by the city with Bill Graham, open since 1986.

Graham designed it to look like the Grateful Dead’s “steal your face” logo from above. Methane from the landfill below caused small lawn fires in its first season, and gas collection systems were added before 1987.

The Grateful Dead played there 39 times, and it hosts the city’s Fourth of July fireworks with the San Francisco Symphony.

Sources

Questions people ask

Why is the amphitheatre built on a landfill?

It was part of the Shoreline Park project on the city’s former bayfront landfill.

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